Hello! I am Lynn a 45 year old pet and house sitter and yoga teacher. Your dog and I can explore the trails of our amazing city park, exercise at your place or take leisurely strolls along the Helena neighborhood avenues. I care for many of the dogs in this beautiful city and hope that your dog will be the next to join my pack of well-loved, well cared for, well-exercised critters. I have more than 10 years experience caring for the dogs of others and had my own rescue dogs for 20 years. I am organized, reliable, responsible and honored to care for the ones you love while you are away. Why I love dog sitting I have an interesting relationship to dogs in general. As a young child I had two experiences of being bitten, once rather savagely in the face by a chihuahua and once rather gently on the shoulder by a great dane who was after my dinner plate. I consider these to be my initiation into dog love and the sort of careful attention dogs require. These experiences did not turn into fear or anxiety, but rather taught me, before the age of five, how to effectively be with dogs safely. Strange the way we humans learn by failing or negative experience, but there it is . . . I raised two rescue animals and successfully kept them with me until their endings at 13 (German shepherd, euthanized) and 16 (rez dog from Browning, died in my arms after an uncomplicated 3 day illness). These two were (like my earlier experiences) polar opposites. The shepherd was a strong disciplinarian; forever checking the perimeter, counting heads on backcountry hikes, fiercely herding larger animals and protecting smaller ones. She never really got to relax in life and was frightfully neurotic from early trauma, but we had love and each other to travel with. I like to think that I gave her a good life. The rez dog found her way into our home by begging to the shepherd. We were outside the Exxon station by Midvale creek in East Glacier Park and this little pup approached the shepherd in a plaintive way. This pup loved mischief, food and chasing things. Her life was a buffet of trouble, tastiness and just plain fun. Any uneasiness I felt about the neurotic shepherd was casually dismissed by the mutt and totally obliterated in the five years we spent alone together after the shepherd passed. That mutt is what got me into this joyful work. My wonderful neighbors noticed the mutt and I walking together in the last years of her life; such slow, deliberate walks, greeting any dogs that happened to be out, gently playing in snow, rolling in grass . . . miss her, miss them both. But to be true about my situation now, I much prefer taking care of your dogs. Having to get up every morning rain or shine for 20 years and exercise 2 herding dogs with 3 hour-long walks a day in addition to keeping the 3 of us housed and fed took a lot! I like that I get to do that when I choose to these days, and the neighborhood is a beautiful place to expand my personal "pack". I no longer have 2 dogs, I now have the spirit of dog or dog energy as a companion (it's a little lighter to carry--the dogs get it, I think). Meet my pets None About my yard Dogs in my care will be walked 2 times a day or more. My experience administering medication Most medication, yes. It's helpful if the dog has some experience taking it. The routine is key.